The High Court of Madurai has given a swift verdict in the case of AIADMK treasurer Dindigul Srinivasan (Edappadi side) seeking the authority to take away the gold armor presented by AIADMK to the statue of Pasumbon Muthuramalinga Devar from the bank.
AIADMK treasurer Dindigul Srinivasan had filed a petition in the Maduraiklai High Court. In it, “The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa presented a 13 kg gold shield to the statue of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Devar in 2014. This gold shield is kept in a locker in the name of AIADMK and Pasumpon Devar Memorial in a bank in Annanagar area of Madurai.
Every year on the 30th of October, on the occasion of the birthday of Pasumbon Muthuramalinga Devar, it is customary to take the gold armor from the bank 3 days before and put it on the statue of Muthuramalinga Devar located in Pasumpon and put it back in the bank locker.
For this AIADMK Treasurer and Pasumbon Muthuramalinga Devar memorial officials will sign in the bank and receive the gold shield. Currently, O. Panneerselvam, who was expelled from the AIADMK, is trying to get the golden shield. The Supreme Court and the High Court have ruled that the order removing O. Panneerselvam from the AIADMK party will stand.
Therefore, “I, as the treasurer of the ADMK, have the authority to get the gold shield from the bank. But the bank officials are refusing to hand over the gold shield. Therefore, on the occasion of Pasumbon Muthuramalingath Devar’s birthday on October 30, 2022, the bank officials should be ordered to issue a legal interim order to take away the gold shield and to give the authority to handle the bank account on behalf of the AIADMK.
When this petition came up for hearing, both the bank side and the Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Devar memorial side said that they would abide by the court order. The court had ordered O. Panneerselvam to join the party in the case. On the side of O. Panneer Selvam, there was strong opposition to handing over the gold shield to the Edappadi Palanichami side.
In this situation, this petition came up for hearing again today before Justice Bhavani Subpurayan. At that time, from the OPS side, “According to the ADMK party rules, only the coordinator and co-coordinator have been selected. Acting Treasurer has no powers when Convenor, Co-Convenor is present. A case relating to the coordinator and co-coordinator is pending in the Supreme Court. The Election Commission did not approve the appointment of a temporary general secretary in AIADMK. If the gold shield is not handed over to us, it should be handed over to the district collector,” it was argued.
On the part of Edappadi Palanichami, “2,190 members of the AIADMK have jointly chosen the temporary general secretary. The High Court and the Supreme Court have said that the election of the temporary Secretary General will be held. It has also been informed that a general meeting will be held. OPS side has no authority to get gold shield. Therefore, according to law, AIADMK treasurer Dindigul Srinivasan should be ordered to hand over the gold shield,” it argued.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, the judge adjourned the case to 3 pm. In this situation, the Maduraik High Court has given permission to hand over the gold armor of Muthuramalingath Devar to the Ramanathapuram District Revenue Department and it has been informed that the court cannot interfere in the internal party issue and the gold armor given by AIADMK should be taken from Ramanathapuram DRO Bank.